Margrave Haifrall
|Row 2 title = Gender |Row 2 info = Male |Row 3 title = Born |Row 3 info = 10 May, -2 L.C. |Row 4 title = Nationality |Row 4 info = |Row 5 title = Affiliation |Row 5 info = (Formerly) * (Formerly) (Formerly) |Row 6 title = Occupations |Row 6 info = Senator (Formerly) |Row 7 title =Status |Row 7 info = |Row 8 title = |Row 8 info = |Row 9 title = Alignment |Row 9 info = Chaotic Neutral|caption =' |Row 10 title = Status |Row 10 info = Alive}}Margrave Haifrall (also known by the alias Nicolas Ramone) is a rogue mage that defected from the Kirin Tor. He was held in custody by the Grand Alliance before being released by Gaytheil Sunbrook. Though he was freed with a specific mission for Sunbrook, it has been indefinitely put on hold, leaving him free to pursue his earlier ambitions of studying the enigmatic arts of chronomancy. Biography Early Life Margrave was born in the Kingdom of Alterac to Oliver and Carina Haifrall. When the Second War came to the northern human kingdoms, the family fled before Aiden Perenolde's betrayal to the Alliance. A child at the time, Margrave did not understand the necessity of their departure. When he finally did understand Alterac's betrayal of the Alliance, he began to hold his nationality and heritage in contempt. A Rogue Wizard Senatorial Career As he grew up, Margrave was sent to Dalaran to study magic under the Kirin Tor. As an apprentice, Margrave was always eager to study abroad in other human kingdoms such as Stormwind and Lordaeron. He was fortuitous enough to be studying in Stormwind during the events of the Scourge's rise and conquest of the northern kingdoms, and stayed there for several years. When Dalaran was reconstructed and raised as a floating city above Northrend, he returned to the Kirin Tor to resume his membership among their ranks. During the conflict in Pandaria, Margrave pursued membership among the Magus Senate of Dalaran in order to serve as a guiding hand in its legislation. Despite this, Margrave's vested interest in the Senate tended to clash with others, and his internal belief that magic was an inherently superior force of the world was something he knew would not be well-received. Jaded and cynical, his relationships with those around him degraded quickly until an attack on a colleague's lab assistants was used to frame him, resulting in him being brought to court. Preparing before his trial for a presumably guilty verdict, he was ready to escape if needed. Found guilty of the crime, Margrave escaped into the Hillsbrad Foothills with the Magus Senate pursuing him. He clashed in a battle with them before fleeing into a nearby cave system. Exile and Coercion Margrave reconvened with his apprentice, Nicolas Ramone, who believed their plan to be a success. Margrave denied this, claiming that the contingency in case he was found guilty was never intended to be a victory. Realizing that he had essentially doomed himself to a life in hiding where he would not be able to resume any of his old research, Margrave cursed the series of events that had transpired to bring him to this point. Deciding it would be best to exist and travel alone, without a likelihood of his magical signature being tracked, he destroyed both his staff and his apprentice. In doing so, he was left without his greatest source of magical strength, greatly depleting him and forcing him to live as something of a hermit. His wanderings finally brought him to the property owned by Leviticus Aspera and his Lion's Compass. Margrave saw an opportunity for employment within the Lion's Compass. Desperate to escape his hermitage, Margrave hoped for a chance to be able to return to the world and seek employment, and did so under the name of his late apprentice, Nicolas Ramone. For a time he worked well with the Lion's Compass, yet was seemingly ill all the time. Finally, Sal'kandir Dawnreaver, a colleague of Aspera's, questioned him about his origins and found his story to be suspicious. After an investigation of his identity and several events within Drustvar, Margrave was confronted by Leviticus and Sal'kandir, in which they withdrew the truth of his identity by force and coerced him into serving the Compass by force, knowing his role as a murderer. Sal'kandir questioned Margrave's constant illness, and it was revealed that he was suffering from a mild magic addiction brought on by his old staff and its constant stream of mana into his body, not unlike a font of power like the Sunwell. The man offered advice and techniques to help rehabilitate the mage, while Leviticus made sure it was known that Margrave Haifrall was not to face arrest as long as he served under the Compass. Relative Freedom Despite Leviticus' efforts to keep Margrave from prison, the Alliance ultimately captured the man all the same. Margrave was imprisoned within the Stormwind Stockades after he was discovered as a criminal that had been missing for over five years. Housed within a cell for months, he was scheduled for transfer to the Violet Hold. During his incarceration, he was visited by the sudden arrival of the Ren'dorei Gaytheil Sunbrook, who came to offer Margrave's freedom in exchange for his services in finding and tracking down Erilihn Autumnsong after the conflict in the Ghostlands. Agreeing to her terms, Gaytheil released Margrave from his cell and set him free to recover his possessions before he would be set to task. As far as the guard of Stormwind was concerned, Margrave was Dalaran's business. Those who were suspicious would be resolved as needed. Having no contact with Gaytheil since being freed, Margrave initially attempted to hold true to his promise. Despite this, gathering his possessions reminded him of his older research into chronomancy. His interest was revitalized, and he gathered his old works and research to resume attempting to practice chronomancy. Despite this, his magic addiction ate at him and made it impossible to focus. Minor as it was, he did not have a reliable way to sate it. Fortunately, the gnawing hunger led him to come to a realization. His own energy output would be incapable of actually wielding chronomancy, or any of the forbidden magics he sought to study. Seeking a means to sate his addiction as well as power his magic, Margrave began research to recreate an old and powerful enchantment. Visiting the libraries within Stormwind, he discovered what he needed to find. An old enchantment designed to actively tap into leylines and funnel mana to the user, Margrave began work to attempt to modify the enchantment. Rather than place it upon a staff, he would instead place the enchantment upon small items he could wear on his person and keep close to him at all times. While working on modifying the enchantment, he met with Kora Deathwhisper in the Stormwind library, where the two shared their thoughts on history, religion, and the human kingdoms. After he modified the enchantment's formula and creation, Margrave was able to create the Arcweaver Triad that would wear with convenience. He also used small bands to begin creating a social netherwork that he could use to communicate with Gaytheil and Kora with ease. Despite the preparations he had made to finally prepare to hunt down Autumnsong, Gaytheil Sunbrook returned with the revelation of her pregnancy as well as informing Margrave that they would not hunt Autumnsong yet. Margrave decided that Autumnsong held a prominent enough position within the Horde that finding her would not be an issue if the trail went cold. In agreement, he began to make plans to visit an old friend. Foray Into Time Into the Ruins Using his newfound freedom and availability of time, Margrave decided to visit his old colleague, Halorast Solflame, in the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Sneaking into the borders of the elven lands, Margrave journeyed to the Solflame Enclave only to find that it was completely in ruins, destroyed in a series of explosions and the inferno that followed. As he traversed the ruins, he felt Death magic that hung heavy in the air. Curious as to what had transpired - as well as the whereabouts of Halorast - Margrave explored to Enclave, only to be confronted by what appeared to be the hostile memory of the recently deceased Raitaus Solflame. Though Raitaus was aggressive and attempted to kill Margrave, he was able to determined what had seemingly killed the man and destroyed the Enclave. As Raitaus had implied, the "dead" had invaded, but the actual culprit remained an unknown. Escaping the fight with Raitaus, Margrave left the memory to its rage in the open courtyard and made his way to the Solflame Archive. Though only Halorast was seemingly able to enter it, Margrave withdrew the silver braided ring he had been given that granted him access, and entered the Archive. Secluded and protected, the Archive had sustained no damage whatsoever, and housed many of House Solflame's magical and academic treasures, including the ancient Book of Avoren. Margrave wasted no time in seizing the Book, knowing that it was the life's work of Halorast. However, while Margrave had thought himself to be alone in the Enclave, he was soon followed by a pair of elves, Valythra Bloodmoon and Mellectria Sunstrike. Though Margrave had known of Valythra as the daughter of Raitaus and Zyanel, he did not immediately recognize her due to the extreme changes brought on by her vampirism. Upon recognizing Valythra, Margrave began to wonder just how much the world had changed in his self-imposed exile. Not only had Valythra - who had never set foot in Icecrown - become a San'layn, but she was casually traveling in the company of a living blood elf. He rationalized that there was a possibility of coercion, perhaps a secret alliance, or maybe tolerance had grown in the elven kingdom. Valythra demanded that Margrave turn over the Book of Avoren. In response, Margrave exerted his magic to intimidate the pair, stating that he would not leave without the Book. Though Mellectria expressed discomfort under his influence, Valythra did not submit. The standoff continued until Margrave accused Valythra of being responsible for the heavy air of Death magic that hung about the Enclave. For Mellectria's sake, and for her own, Valythra finally backed down and allowed Margrave to take the Book. Satisfied, Margrave teleported out of the Archive and returned to his makeshift home in Alterac. The Epoch Stone For the next few months, Margrave spent his time attempting to solve the mystery of the Book of Avoren to no avail. Try as he might, he could not forcibly open the book, and he could not understand the archaic languages spoken by the gem embedded in its cover. Frustrated, he resumed his research on chronomantic phenomena, attempting to study the history of the magic and searching for any past anomalies or occurrences. As he read, however, a thought came to him and he realized that he knew of such phenomena. During his time in the Magus Senate, he was involved in an investigation regarding temporal disturbances just prior to the Iron Horde invasion. He at least knew of where his own reflection had been found, but he would have to go on a hunt for the rest. Margrave purchased a horse from the horse breeders in the Eastvale Logging Camp, again using his alias. With his newly obtained horse, Margrave traveled into Duskwood, the location of the Margrave's chronomantic anomaly years ago. He rode up to a point along the path between Darkshire and the road leading to Stranglethorn, and began to search the area for any residual traces of temporal magic. Preparing a runic circle and energizing himself with the Triad, Margrave began to siphon all the magic he could from the atmosphere around him, pulling at the residual essence of time left behind by the temporal anomalies. His original intent in doing so was to capture the essence of time magic and familiarize himself with it to be able to better recognize and study it. Having gathered the essence of time, he found that it had coalesced into what seemed to be a very small stone, like a colorless mineral resting on the palm of his hand. Uncertain as to what it was, Margrave took the stone with him back to his makeshift home in Alterac. Curious as to how the stone had formed, Margrave speculated that this was the physical manifestation of temporal magic, that all of it had gathered into the center of his hand to form this stone. Yet, the instant Margrave began to apply his own magic to the stone, it disintegrated into sand. Confused, Margrave tested the sand to see if it retained any of its magical properties. Technically, the sands still held temporal essence within them, but they were weak and practically useless for study. In the end, Margrave was left with more questions than answers. Appearance Margrave is a tall, lanky individual, possessing a slim frame while standing at a height around 6'5". A man in his early 40's, his age is starting to show in the form of wrinkles across his face. He keeps his black hair short and groomed. His voice is smooth, often speaking at a fast pace, though his speech can become slow and concise if he needs to enunciate. He holds a preference for wearing his black mage robes, which are tied and closed over his torso and open at the waist to reveal black pants and boots. A belt is tied around his waist, with a sheathe for his longsword and a chain that keeps a spellbook bound to his hip. He wears a pair of black gloves that protect his hands in the event of magic going awry, and his sapphire ring from his days in the Magus Senate rests on his ring finger. Personality Margrave is a man who generally prefers to keep to his own academic work than to socialize. He is often dismissive towards other people, though he can take interest in others in regards to magical subjects. He seems to have some sense of honor in that he will uphold a bargain even if he has already gained his benefits. Margrave shows no compunction about the study and use of forbidden magics. He holds a deep disdain for inefficiency. Though he is often demeaning towards others he holds little pride in himself for his Alterac heritage, a topic of which has been a source of mockery for him. His attitudes towards magic were elitist in nature, believing that magic-wielders had a natural superiority over the "common" people who could not wield it. It is unknown if he still holds this belief, as he now wishes nothing more than for his work to not be disturbed. Skills '''Languages: '''Margrave is fluent in Common and Thalassian, and can translate most written elven languages. '''Physical: '''Margrave is not a man known for his physical strength or agility. He is trained in fighting with a sword, in the event of needing to fall back on a physical weapon. '''Magical: '''Margrave's greatest strength is his magical aptitude. Possessing a hefty mana pool fueled even further by the Arcweaver Triad that he carries, he is capable of complex and powerful Arcane rituals. Margrave can be aptly termed as an arcweaver due to his fondness for creating lightning from his Arcane magic. Though he has never yet practiced it, Margrave studies chronomancy extensively. Category:Human Category:Alteraci Category:Kirin Tor Category:Mages Category:Criminals Category:Grand Alliance Category:Prisoners